(There is a hook for a country song in that title, I am certain). Call it the Interpersonal Divide: One professor suggests that technology threatens face-to-face communication. Excuse me, but the sky is not falling ... ok, so I admit to pondering if cell phones here on campus aren't equipped with some sort of OCDS (Out of Classroom Detection System): Once out the door, the unit flips open, gets two hits with the thumb, and immediately attaches itself to the ear of the student who then begins the common 'whatzup' litany.
"Rapidly, we are believing that someone somewhere else is more important than the person that we are with," said Michael Bugeja, professor and director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University. "You see this all the time with cell phones." Only eight of the 116 students polled by The Daily said they did not own a cell phone. The extensive use of electronic devices has many people concerned that the value in person-to-person communications is nearly lost, Bugeja said. In his book, "Interpersonal Divide: The Search for Community in a Technological Age," Bugeja argues that the overuse of these devices has created an "interpersonal divide" between people.
There may be something to what Bugeja has to say...However, remember that radio did not replace newspapers, television did not replace radio, the Internet has not replaced television, and literally 'reaching out and touching someone' has not been replaced by cell phones. Communication (interpersonal or otherwise) is different with cell phones...it was different when a distant generation embraced the telephone for the first time, however, people will still connect in face-to-face and online communities...and please, let's abandon the phrase 'virtual community'..."virtuals" don't talk to one another, people do!